In February Norman Greenwood gave a very interesting, informative and sometimes eye-opening view ..of his time with the NSPCC as an inspector.

In March Marie Brown from Inheritance Legal Services Limited in Cambridge gave us a very interesting and thoughtful provoking talk about Legal Advice in Later Years. This covered Wills, Power of Attorney and briefly touched on Inheritance Tax.

Suffragettes were the subject of our talk by Kathy Atherton from Dorking Museum in April. It was a very interesting and in-depth talk from which we learned all about the Pankhursts and also Emmeline and Fred Pethick-Lawrence who were strong campaigners for women’s votes. They lived in the “Dutch House ” (formerly the “Mascot”) in South Holmwood until they had to leave in 1921. Several of our members know the house and recognised many names from past families in surrounding villages.

On the 17th May, Rosemary introduced the two Resolutions for the evening, Avoid Food Waste, Address Food Poverty and Appropriate Care in Hospitals for People With Dementia. After members putting their views on both subjects and expressing their views, we were asked to vote accordingly.

After this it was refreshment time, which is always very welcome, and then Rosemary had organised a quiz which was very brain taxing but good fun and when the answers were announced we realised were how clever we really were!!!
SUE FALVEY

The AGM was held in  November and the Committee for 2016 was elected. After the usual notices and reports were read we had a refreshing ‘cuppa’ and slice of cake, courtesy of our hostesses of the evening.

After this our ‘crafty’ ladies set about making decorations for our Christmas tree that was put in the churchyard again last year.

On the 5th December several ladies decorated  our tree and very pretty it was too.  When all the lights went on at night it was a beautiful sight and lovely to know the Capel WI tree was there, shining brightly.

Then on the  I  Oth December our Knit and Natter Group gathered at the ‘Star’ at Rusper to have a Christmas lunch organised by Sue McMillan.  We had a thoroughly good time and ate a lovely meal amidst lots of laughs and chat.  Have to do it all again  next year!!

On the 15th December we ended a very successful year by holding our annual Christmas Party in the Village Hall. We all looked very Christmassy and ate scrummy food, had a glass, or two, of wine, took part in two Christmas quizzes and were thoroughly entertained by a brilliant pantomime directed and starring Ann Moon and her supporting cast, Linda, Doreen, Val, Marion, Jessie and Tina. The lighting and curtains were handled by Pauline. It was really funny and had us all in stitches.

It was an excellent evening and a very good way to get the Christmas festivities started.

SUE FALVEY

PS Don’t forget that our first Jumble Sale will take place on Saturday, 5th March!

There was a Passion Fruit Birthday cake and the 2 youngest and the 2 most senior of Capel’s WI together blew out the candles. An ode was especially written and read out, there was a huge raffle and then everyone enjoyed a fabulous birthday spread – just like WI era know how to do!

Linda Sinclair – Secretary to Capel WI. 

Our speaker tonight was Jim Cook from Canine Partners, who gave his wonderful talk and an insight into what is achieved by the people who train these fantastic dogs.

Recently, through excellent publicity by the media, their reputation is growing and so it should. We say pictures of the dogs with their happy partners and it really made us think how lucky we are. It was very emotional. We learned of some of the things the dogs are trained to do, from emptying and filling the washing machine, picking up mobile phones, adjusting armrests and foot places on wheelchairs, helping to take off gloves, the list is endless. The dogs are taught to think for themselves and have been known to get help from other family members and neighbors in an emergency.

There are 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK and Canine Partners just cannot fulfill the demand. Jim told us about their sponsors and the work they do with Help the Heroes.

Jim’s talk was brilliant and we all said we would like to attend one of their information sessions and see the puppies and dogs being trained first hand, so watch out Midhurst, the WI ladies will be visiting very soon!

Sue Falvey